***
“There you are girl,” Mrs. Voss barked at her as she entered the hall carrying the basket of goods. “Mr. Voss has had a letter just now. In a month’s time, you are to stay at another farm and perform at the tavern down the road. You had better be prepared.”
Rosaline’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach. They were going to send her off, bouncing from house to house to sing in front of strangers without a care for her wellbeing. The thoughts of everything that could happen to her while staying at a stranger’s house made her ill. Her hand slipped to the scrap of newspaper in her pocket as Mrs. Voss’ heels clicked on the hardwood floors on her way out.
Chapter Four
One month later...
Rosaline glanced out the window of the train at the passing farms and open lands. Her heart was still beating in her chest out of fear of being caught and the shock of what she had done. Mr. Voss had almost caught her as she slipped out of her room. She hadn’t realized he’d be up at that hour and she hadn’t been prepared to dodge him.
Ducking under the stairs that lead to her small room, she had held her breath and prayed to God that he would not find her there. If he caught her he would force her to leave in the morning and tour strange farms with people she had never met.
He had walked past the stairs and even trod on her cloak beneath his pointed boots. It was a miracle that he’d not seen her then.
Now, safely on her way, she turned her attention back to her lap and the open letters that were laying there, her mind replaying the events of the past few weeks.
Rosaline had shown Donna the piece of torn newspaper on her half-day when she had gone for tea. They sat in the Granger’s sitting room by a table laid for two.
“This is a sign, Rosaline! We simply must respond to this!” Donna had exclaimed, nearly knocking over their tea. “I’ll help you. We can give my address for the correspondence, that way the Vosses never have to know. I’ll keep the letters and you can read them when you come into town for the groceries. I’ll even post the replies once you have written them.”
“But Donna, what if we get caught? I’ll never eat again.”
Donna had grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Then we must be extra careful that we don’t get caught, mustn't we? If you don’t go, Rosaline, I’m worried about what might happen to you on a stranger's farm,” Her eyes were wide with fear. “We can’t let them bounce you around like a possession.
Rosaline had agreed to go along with Donna’s plan. She had written her response with Donna’s assistance and thus began their weekly correspondence with Arthur Stratton.
They’d sat together in the field behind the store and read the letters.
The first letter had contained a confession from Arthur that his son did not know he had placed the advertisement on his behalf. He opened up about Thomas and the path he had started down in the wake of his hurt and anger.
“I fear that this will be my last chance of getting through to him,” Arthur had ended the letter.
Their hearts broke when they read about everything that Thomas had been through in the past few years.
Tears had filled her eyes as she read the words to her friend. “Oh Donna, this poor man. He’s been through so much.”
For the first time since their adventure had begun, Donna had expressed some doubt.
“But if he hasn’t written the letter himself, who says he will be willing to marry you once you get there?” She shifted her position on the grass. “I don’t know Rosaline, maybe we should leave this one and apply to another. You don’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing and no one. There’s still time before the end of the month.”
Yet something in the way Arthur Stratton had poured out his heart tugged at Rosline’s soul. He was so open and forthcoming in his letters. He seemed like an honest man of God who wanted nothing more than to help his son.
“I think I want to see this through, Donna. Besides, even if I am stranded with nothing and no one, will I be worse off than I am now?”
Donna was reluctant but agreed to continue the correspondence for her friend's sake.
Rosaline had reciprocated in her next letter by telling Arthur about her parents and the life she had lived for the past eight years as a maid at the Voss’ ranch.
The letters had continued for a few more weeks until they had finally decided that Rosaline should use the money she had saved to catch a train.
Together Donna and Rosaline had formed the plan that would hopefully take her away to a better life.
“I’ll buy the ticket with your money and wait for you at the station. My parents sleep like the dead so they won’t hear me sneaking out. We’d better not write to each other for a while. Mr. Voss will be looking for you and he knows we are friends,” Donna had suggested. “It’s better if there’s nothing that points to your whereabouts, at least at the start until things calm down.”
In the dead of night, she had packed her things into her valise and snuck away from the farm, hoping and praying desperately that she could leave her old life behind. She had taken all of her belongings, leaving behind the fancy dress she’d received for singing.
Donna had snuck out of her house and met Rosaline on the platform with her ticket and a parcel of food to tide her over on the train. They had held each other and cried until it was time to board.
